(a) Early education services shall be provided by a local educational agency through a transdisciplinary team consisting of a group of professionals from various disciplines, agencies, and parents who shall share their expertise and services to provide appropriate services for infants and their families. Each team member shall be responsible for providing and coordinating early education services for one or more infants and their families, and shall serve as a consultant to other team members and as a provider of appropriate related services to other infants in the program.

(b) Credentialed personnel with expertise in vision or hearing impairments shall be made available by the local educational agency to early education programs serving infants identified in accordance with paragraph (2), (5), or (13) of subdivision (b) of Section 3030 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, and shall be the primary providers of services under those programs whenever possible.

(c) Transdisciplinary teams may include, but need not be limited to, qualified persons from the following disciplines:

(1) Early childhood special education.

(2) Speech and language therapy.

(3) Nursing, with a skill level not less than that of a registered nurse.

(4) Social work, psychology, or mental health.

(5) Occupational therapy.

(6) Physical therapy.

(7) Audiology.

(8) Parent-to-parent support.

(d) A person who is authorized by the local educational agency to provide early education or related services to infants shall have appropriate experience in normal and atypical infant development and an understanding of the unique needs of families of infants with exceptional needs, or, absent that experience and understanding, shall undergo a comprehensive training plan for that purpose, which plan shall be developed and implemented as part of the staff development component of the local plan for early education services.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 186, Sec. 56. (AB 2659) Effective January 1, 2017.)